Package



M. JENNER May 1'1, 1965 PACKAGE Filed NOV. 15, 1962 INVENTOR MYRONTEA/NER .ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,132,791 PACKAGE MyronIienner, Bethel, Vt. Filed Nov, 13, 19:62, Ser. No. 237,601 Claims. (Cl.Z06-56) This invention relates to a novel package, and more particularlyrelates to a multiple-compartment package.

The invention has among its objects the provision of a novelmultiple-compartment package.

A further object of the invention relates to a multiplecompartmentpackage having novel identifying means associated with each of thecompartments of the package.

Yet another object of the invention lies in the provision of a novelmultiple-compartment package in strip form having compartments in theform of serially connected envelopes and separately appliedenvelope-identifying means, portions of the identifying means beinguniquely associated with each of the envelopes of the package.

A still further object is to provide a package having a plurality yofseparately held articles adapted to be used sequentially at differenttimes, the package incorporating novel means which may be applied tothe-'package by the user to identify the time at'which each of sucharticles is to be used. Y

Further objects are to provide a multiple envelope package whereinarticle-identifying means may be applied `and located by the userrelative to the individual packaged articles, and to provide a packageVwherein the articles are 4dated and sequentially removed with theirrespective compartments and article-dating means, whereby the remainingportion of the package serves as a record offwhat articleshave beenused, what articles remain, and when the first of theremaining articlesis to be used.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention willmore fully appear from the following description when the same is readin connection with the accompanying drawings. *i It is to be expresslyunderstood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose ofillustration only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe invention.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like partsthroughout the several views,

FIG. 1 is a View in plan of a rst embodiment of package in accordancewith the invention, the package being in strip form, portionsofthestrips 1S and 21 of the package being shown broken away for clarityof illustration;

, FIGS. 2 and 3 are views in vertical section through the rst embodimentof package, the sections being taken along the lines 2-2 and 3-3,respectively, of FIG. l, Lthe pill or tablet in FIG. 2 being shown inelevation;

FIG. 4 is a View .in plan of a partially segmented date strip which isto be incorporated in a package in accordance with the invention in themanner shown in FIGS. l, 2, and 3; and i FIG'. S'is a View in plan of asecond embodiment of package in accordancewitl1`the invention, `portionsof the 'strips 18 and 21 ofthe package being shown broken away forclarity of illustration. l

p The package of the invention-mits 'preferred embodiments is in theform of a strip composed of connected enr.v,el npes,.the envelopes andtheirl contained products being removed'sequentially from the strip asthe products are used. An illustrative but non-limiting example ofarticles with which the package of the invention may be used toadvantage is that ofV a medicinal-tablet or pill which is to be taken atthe rate of one aday. It frequently proves burdensome fortheuserjtoremember to take a tablet `each day, and 'to remember,`afterwards whether a tablet v lshown in FIGS. 1-4, inclusive.

3,132,791 Patented May 11, 1965 ice has been taken on the proper day.This becomes particularly burdensome, and the record-keeping, if any,becomes prone to error, when the cycle of tablet-taking is to beinterrupted at periodic intervals. The latter type of medication isillustrated, for example, by the taking by women of ovulation-inhibitingpills or tablets.

The novel package of the invention lends itself admirably to use with aproduct, such as pills, tablets, capsules, or the like, which are to betaken at periodic times with intervals of abstaining from taking theproduct. The package is simple, economical, and easily used, and itselfprovides a simple, foolproof means of keeping a record of the taking ofthe product. The package may be sold for use by all potential customers,and may readily be adapted by the consumer, after purchase, to theindividual requirements of theV particular product and the particularuser.

Turning now to the drawings, a rst embodiment of package of theinvention, generally designated 10, is

Package 10 is in elongated strip form, and in effect is composed of aplurality or serially connected sealed envelopes 13 each containing onearticle or product, such product being adapted to be used or taken oneat a time. Usually such article is in the form of a unitary tablet orpill, such as shown at 16 in each envelope 13, although it is to beunderstood that in some instances each of the doses to be taken may bein the form of a plurality of pills, tablets, or capsules contained in aVsingle envelope 13.

The package 10 is made up of a bottom strip or layer 11 which may bemade, for example, of thin sheet material made of material such asplastic film or a thin metal foil, the strip 11 being made either ofmaterial which is itself thermoplastic and can be softened by heat, orone having a thermoplastic fusible or adhesive coating on the uppersurface thereof as the strip is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. A similarupper strip or layer 12 is disposed above strip 11. 'Tablets 16 aresealed within the resulting envelopes '13 in a conventional manner,confronting faces of strips 11 and 12 being sealed together as`indicated at 14 to form individually sealed spaces 15 containing thetablets 16. Preferably, the strips 11 and 12 are perforated transverselybetween envelopes 13, as indicated at 17, whereby to facilitate thetearing of the envelopes from each other. In the illustrative package 10there are twenty envelopes 13, each containing a tablet 16, suchenvelopes being disposed in sequence from the right-hand end 33 of thestrip package as it is shown in FIG. 1. Four similar but empty envelopes20 are disposed in sequence and connected to the left-hand or forwardenvelope 13 for reasons to be explained.

Package 10, in the portion thereof which is initially prepared and sold,is completed by an upper transparent strip 1S, which may be made ofthermoplastic film material, which is disposed above strip 12 (FIGS. 2and 3) in slightly spaced relationship with respect thereto and is edgesealed to the strips 11 and 12 at the edges 23 thereof lying above theedges of the zones 14 of envelopes 13. Strips 12 and 18 form betweenthem a slide-receiving and retaining space 19 within which a slide orstrip 21 may be inserted and slid lengthwise bythe purchaser and user ofthe package. Strip or slide 21, which in the illustrative embodiment ineffect constitutes a calendar, is shown more clearly in FIG. 4.

Strip 21 may be made of fairly stiff paper or thin cardboard, so asreadily to be received within the space 19 between strips 12 and 18 bybeing slid longitudinally into such space from one end thereof. Strip 21is cornposed of a plurality of serially arranged vsections 22, each ofsuch sections being of a length equal tov the length of each -of theenvelopes 13 and 20..' The sections 22 of striptZl have printedV on onebroad face thereofthe tween successive sections; it is alsorpreferred inorder to facilitate tearing oi of successive sections 22, to provideshallow notches 25 at the edges of successive sections in alignment withthe perforated lines 24. Strip 21 may be sold or given away with thepurchase of one or more packages 10, for example, in the form of a `roll26 from which the requisite length of strip 21 may be progressivelyunrolled.

In connection with the illustrative package 1t), let it be assumed thatthe tablets 16 are such that they are to be taken by the user at therate of one a day for a period of 20 days, following which there is tobe an interval of 4 days in which no tablets are taken. It is because ofsuch V4-day period that the four empty envelopes 29 are employed at theleft-hand or forward end of the package 10. Such envelopes 20 may bemarked for convenience with distinctive indicia such as a colored dot 27printed upon the upper strip 12 at such empty envelope 20, and the datea'ixedvto each envelope 2t? may be visually emphasized by a coloredcircle 35 printed on layer iii. The package l Will be sold to theconsumer together with a suicient length of calendar or date strip 21 tokpermit'the strip 21 to be appliedvto the package by the consumer withvparticular reference to the manner in which the tablets 16 are to betaken by the consumer. Having determined the date at which the firsttablet 16 is to be taken, the `user then counts backward four days todetermine the date which is to be applied to the first or left-handempty envelope 20. The strip 21 is then dispensed as required, and theleft-hand or forward end portion thereof torn off along such line 2,4 asto leave the last determined date Vas the last section 22 on the strip.The strip 21 is then introduced within the space i9 of the package as bybeing pushed intothe space 19 there-of in the direction from right toleft. Feeding of the strip 21 into the package is stoppedrwhen the endof the first section 22 of the strip coincides with the forwardV end ofthe first or left-hand empty envelope 20. The right-hand end of thestrip 21 is then torn off at a perforated line 2liV which coincides withthe right-hand end 33 of the package proper made up of the strips 11,12, and t8.

The thus positioned strip 21 may be retained in the correct,rpredetermined position within the strip guiding and retaining means l2,l of the package in a number of ways. Oneof the simplest ways isto bendor fold the package with the'strip 21 therein at regular intervals,-such as along the fold lines 29 indicated on FlGr.V l. Although thepackage may then subsequently beV substantially straightened, the linesof folding 29 remain suiciently to retain the strip 21 in place in thepackage.

Alternately, the strip 21 may be adhesively secured or stapled to thelayers 11, l2, and 18 of the package.

Such latter methods, however, are not ordinarily necessary.

In the use ofthe package 20 the consumer, having arrived at the day onwhich use of the package should begin, tears olf Von such day the firstor left-hand empty envelope 20 together with the section 22 of thedate'strip 2 which overlies such envelope. On each of the followingthree days, the remaining empty envelopes Ztl are removed one by onefrom the package together with the corresponding section 22 of the datestrip. On the fifth day, the first or left-hand envelope 13 and datestrip section 22 are removed from package 1t), and the tablettecontained in such envelope is consumed. The

vdescribed S11veees-siive,tearingoffY of the empty envelopes and then ofthe filled envelopes necessarily requires the complete severing of theenvelope, including the portion of strip 1S and the correspondingsection 22 of the strip 2l overlying such envelope from the package.Such action automatically insures that the user of the product will knowWhether or not a product 16 has been taken for a particular day, andalso how many products remain to be taken in the period in which theproducts contained by the package 10 are to be taken.

A second embodiment of package in accordance with the invention, theregenerally designated 30, is illustrated in FIG. 5. The right-handsection 31 of such package is identical with the right-hand portion ofpackage 10 of FIGS. l-4, inclusive, and thus the parts there-of aredesignated by the same reference characters as in the first describedembodiment. The package 30 differs from package l@ of FIGS. 1-3,inclusive, by the fact that it omits the empty envelopes 20 at theleft-hand end of the package in the first embodiment and that at theleft-hand end of the finally assembled package, as shown in FIG. 5, theend of the product-identifying or date strip 21 projects beyond theleft-hand or forward edge 34 of the package proper. Such protruding endof strip 2l., which is generally designated 32, in this instance isshown as containing seven individual date sections 22. Strip 2l isretained positioned relative to the package proper by folding thepackage and Vdate strip at intervals, as indicated at folds 29. OthermeansV may be employed for this purpose, as indicated above inconnection with the first described embodiment of package in accordancewith the invention.

The package 3i) of FIG. 5 thus is somewhat more exible in its manner ofuse than is that of the first described embodiment. PackageV 30 may thusbe used readily by. a consumer for whom there has been prescribed aninitial, non-product consuming period which may be different from thatof most other similar consumers. Thus the illustrative package 30 shownis Vone which has been assembled by'a consumer who requires an initialseven-day non-consuming interval, followed by an interval of 2O days inwhich one tablet 16 per day is taken. Y Although only a limited numberof embodiments of the invention have been illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described in the foregoing specification, itis to be especially understood that various changes, such as in therelative dimensions of the parts, materials used, and the like, as wellas the suggested manner of use of the apparatus of the invention, may bemade therein without departing from the spirit, and scope of theinvention as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Thus, particularly with the embodiment of the package shown in PEG. 5,the product-containing portion 31 of the package may be formedcontinuously as, for example, in lengths to contain a hundred or moreindividual envelopes i3, and may be sold in `such-lengths or partsthereof. With such construction, the `user is free to cut olf a lengthof portion 31 ofthe package, and thus a number of tablets lle, whichconforms to his or her individual needs. Any unused portion of theproductv containing portion 31 ofthe package may be employed as eitherthe 'starting or end portion of a subsequently used package, thestrip 21threaded through the space 19 in such portion,'aspwell as the space 19Yof the rnain portion of the succeeding strip, taken with the folds 29 orother fastening meansabove indicated, preventing any unwantedlongitudinal displacement between the product containing portions 31 ofthe package and the date strip.

As above pointed out, in some'instancesthe individual dose, product, orarticle contained ineach envelope 13 .of the package may itselfconsistof a plurality of separate pieces, tablets, pills, etc. It mayalso consist of predetermined quantities of powder or liquid. The termsproduct and article employed herein and in the following claims, in theabsence of further qualifications, are intended to cover the contents ofeach envelope 13, whether such contents are solid or liquid, and Whethersuch contents'are unitary or divided.

What is claimed is:

1. In a package for medicinal use, a plurality yof identical envelopesdetachably connected together in end-toend relation to form an elongatedstrip, a medicinal ma terial confined in each envelope, a strip guidingand re taining means overlying and extending longitudinally along saidenvelopes throughout the length thereof, and

a single unitary strip of iiexible material longitudinally and slidablyadjustable in and along said guiding and retaining means, said stripconsisting of a plurality of sections detachably connected in end-to-endrelation, each said section having adimension in the longitudinaldirection of said strip, equal to the corresponding dimension of saidenvelopes, each said section bearing calendar indicia of a respectiveday of a month, said days being in sequence from one end of said stripto the other.

2. The package of claim l, said strip guiding and retaining means beinga single transparent film extending continuously along the packageV andsealed along its longitudinal edges only to and along therespective'opposite longitudinal marginal edges of the strip formed bysaid envelopes.

3. The package `of claim 1, said elongated strip of envelopesterminating at the forward end thereof with an envelope containing atablet, the forward end of said single unitary strip extending outwardlybeyond the forward end of said strip of envelopes and said strip guidingand retaining means thereon, through a predetermined number of sectionsof said single unitary strip, corresponding to the number of dayspreceding the day on which a tablet is to be taken by the user incommencing the cycle of medication forwhich said package was assembled.

4. A package as dened in claim 1, 'wherein the package comprises meansat the forward end thereof forming a pluralityl of serially connectedempty envelopes extend- 6 ing beyond and connected to the first envelopeat said forward end of the package containing a tablet, and the forwardend of the date strip extends to overlie the empty 'envelope at theforward end of the package, the number of empty envelopes at the forwardend of the package corresponding to the number of days preceding the dayon which a tablet is to be taken by the user in commencement of thecycle of medication for which the package is assembled.

5. In a package for medicinal use, a plurality 0f identical envelopesdetachably connected together in end-toend relation to form an elongatedstrip, a medicinal material coniined in each envelope, a strip guidingand retaining means overlying and extending longitudinally along saidenvelopes throughout the length thereof, and a single unitary strip ofiiexible material longitudinally and slidably adjustable in and alongsaid guiding and retaining means, said strip consisting of a pluralityof sections detachably connected in end-to-end relation, each saidsection having a dimension in the longitudinal direction of said strip,equal to the corresponding dimensions of said envelopes, each saidsection bearing indicia of a respective interval of time, said intervalsof time being arranged in sequence from one end of said strip to theother.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ,1 1941 THERON E.CONDON, Primary Examiner.

EARLE I. DRUMMOND, Examiner.

1. IN A PACKAGE FOR MEMDICINAL USE, A PLURALITY OF IDENTICAL ENVELOPESDETACHABLY CONNECTED TOGETHER IN END-TOEND RELATION TO FORM ANDELONGATED STRIP, A MEDICINAL MATERIAL CONFINED IN EACH ENVELOPE, A STRIPGUIDING AND RETAINING MEANS OVERLYING AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ALONGSAID ENVELOPES THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH THEREOF, AND A SINGLE UNITARY STRIPOF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL LONGITUDINALLY AND SLIDABLY ADJUSTABLE IN AND ALONGSAID GUIDING AND RETAINING MEANS, SAID STRIP CONSISTING OF A PLURALITYOF SECTIONS DETACHABLY CONNECTED IN END-TO-END RELATION, EACH SAIDSECTION HAVING A DIMENSION IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF SAID STRIP,EQUAL TO THE CORRESPONDING DIMENSION OF SAID ENVELOPES, EACH SAIDSECTION BEARING CALENDAR INDICIA OF A RESPECTIVE DAY OF A MONTH, SAIDDAYS BEING IN SEQUENCE FROM ONE END OF SAID STRIP TO THE OTHER.